Paper sheet handling apparatus

ABSTRACT

It is intended to make possible informing, at the time of maintenance for regular inspection or the like, personnel in charge of any part where a trouble is predictable to enable them to perform inspection or maintenance before the trouble occurs and thereby to reduce the duration the failure of the apparatus. A bill handling apparatus is provided with a conveyance path for conveying bills among a deposit/withdrawal unit, bill boxes, a rejected bill box and a temporary stocking box, wherein sensors for detecting passage of the bills are arranged on the conveyance path, and there are further provided a conveyance monitoring/control unit for monitoring a conveyance status of the bills in each of sensor sections on the conveyance path on the basis of front end passage times and rear end passage times of the bills at the sensors and a display device for perceivably outputting a result of monitoring by the conveyance monitoring/control unit.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application claims priority from Japanese application serialNo. 2005-335703 filed on Nov. 21, 2005, the content of which is herebyincorporated by reference into this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a paper sheet handling apparatus forhandling paper sheets, such as cards, bills and itemized papers forinstance.

Paper sheet handling apparatuses for handling paper sheets, such asautomatic teller machines installed at financial institutions to handlebills, are already offered for public use. In such a paper sheethandling apparatus, a conveyance path for conveying paper sheets, aninlet/outlet for accepting and/or delivering paper sheets, and stockingunits for stocking paper sheets are equipped with various drivingdevices. These driving devices may become unable to operate normally onaccount of the wear of parts or some contingency. Such inability ofdriving devices to operate normally would invite a troubled state of thepaper sheet handling apparatus and make it unable to continue operationunless the trouble is eliminated.

In view of this, an automatic transaction system which can continueoperation by identifying the occurring position and other aspects of thetrouble after it has arisen and avoid that occurring position of thetrouble is proposed (see Patent Reference 1). This automatic transactionsystem is claimed to enable failures of automatic transactionapparatuses to be reduced by avoiding trouble occurring positions.

However, this automatic transaction system still involves the problemthat the automatic transaction apparatus fails when a trouble occurs inan unavoidable position.

Moreover, since this automatic transaction system restores the troubleoccurring position after the trouble has arisen, it involvesinconvenience where the maintenance base is far away as in an overseaslocation or the like. Thus, where the maintenance base is far away, itis desirable to perform regular maintenance to replace defective parts,worn-out parts and the like before any trouble occurs, and thisautomatic transaction system is nothing useful for such preventivemaintenance.

[Patent Reference 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei08-077417

SUMAMRY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention, attempted in view of the problemsnoted above, is to make it possible to inform, at the time ofmaintenance for regular inspection or the like, personnel in charge ofany part where a trouble is predictable to enable them to performinspection or maintenance before the trouble occurs and thereby toreduce the duration the failure of the apparatus.

The invention provides a paper sheet handling apparatus characterized inthat plural sensors for detecting the passage of paper sheets arearranged, the apparatus is provided with a determining device whichdetermines the state of conveyance of the paper sheets in a sensorsection until each sensor on a conveyance path on the basis of the timeof passage of the paper sheets at the front end and the time of passageof the same at the rear end of the pertinent sensor, and an outputdevice for outputting the result of determination by the determiningdevice.

The invention makes it possible to inform, at the time of maintenancefor regular inspection or the like, personnel in charge of any partwhere a trouble is predictable to enable them to perform inspection ormaintenance before the trouble occurs and thereby to reduce the durationthe failure of the apparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic configurational diagram of a bill handlingapparatus;

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the bill handling apparatus;

FIGS. 3A to 3C are diagrams illustrative of processing sensor changetimes;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of figuring out the conveyance distance and thebill length variation rate when there is one destination of conveyance;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of figuring out the conveyance distance and thebill length variation rate when there are two destinations ofconveyance;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrative of standard conveyance information whencounting deposited bills;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrative of standard conveyance information whenaccepting deposited bills;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrative of standard conveyance information whendelivering bills (forward conveyance);

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrative of standard conveyance information whenstoring rejected bills for delivery;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrative of error specifying componentinformation;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of outputting trouble prediction;

FIG. 12 shows an image of a maintenance screen (of a predicted erroroccurrence section); and

FIG. 13 shows an image of a maintenance screen (of detailed informationon a predicted error occurrence section).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described belowtogether with drawings.

First, a bill handling apparatus which, mounted on an automatic machinesuch as an automatic teller machine, performs control pertaining to thedepositing and delivery of bills as paper sheets will be described.

FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of a bill handling apparatus, which is anembodiment of the invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a bill handling apparatus as apaper sheet handling apparatus; 2 denotes a discriminating unit fordiscriminating the denominations and trueness or falseness of bill; 3through 6 denote bill boxes in which bills can be separated or stacked;7 denotes a rejected bill box for keeping rejected bills; 8 denotes atemporary stocking box for rolling and temporarily stocking bills; 9denotes a deposit/withdrawal unit as a port to accepting and deliveringbill; 10 denotes a conveyance path for conveying bills to differentunits in the apparatus; 21 through 26 denote gates for switching overthe conveying direction of bills; and 31 through 46 denote sensors fordetecting the passage of bills.

The sensors 31 through 46 are sensors on the conveyance path, of which35 and 36 also serve as stack inlet sensors and 31, as a separationoutlet sensor. Further, 34 and 42 through 45 also serve as separationoutlet sensors and stack inlet sensors.

FIG. 2 is a control unit block diagram of the bill handling apparatus 1.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 201 denotes a superior apparatus mountedwith the bill handling apparatus 1, such as an automatic teller machine.

A main control unit 202 is the main control unit of the bill handlingapparatus 1.

A line control unit 203 transmits and receives information between thesuperior apparatus 201 and the main control unit 202.

A conveyance motor control unit 204 is connected to a conveyance motor,not shown, for driving the conveyance path 10, and controls theconveyance motor. Also, the conveyance motor control unit 204 counts theextent of the shift of the conveyance motor, registers it in a motortime area 205, and registers information on the speed change of theconveyance motor in a conveyance motor speed change information area206.

Similarly, a separation motor control unit 207 is connected to aseparation motor, not shown, provided in each of the bill cassettes 3through 6 as accommodating units to control the separation motors, andregisters speed change information on the separation motors in aseparation motor speed change information area 208.

A stack motor control unit 209 is connected to a stack motor, not shown,provided in each of the bill boxes 3 through 6, and the rejected billbox 7, to control the stack motors, and registers speed changeinformation on the stack motor in a stack motor speed change informationarea 210.

A sensor control unit controls the sensors 31 through 46 on theconveyance path 10, and registers the change time of each sensor in asensor change time registration area 212.

A conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 as the determining devicemonitors conveyed bills by using the sensors 31 through 46 on theconveyance path 10 at the instruction of the main control unit 202, andregisters in a conveyance status information area 214 bill lengthvariation rates acquired on the basis of detection by the sensors 31through 46 on the conveyance path 10.

A gate control unit 215 turns on or off gates 21 through 26 at theinstruction of the main control unit 202. Also, the gate control unit215 registers in a gate change information area 216 the turned-on timeand the turned-off time of each of the gates 21 through 26 and,periodically checking the current gate status, registers the gate statusin a gate status information area 217.

Standard conveyance information is registered in a standard conveyanceinformation area 218. This standard conveyance information isinformation obtained by conveying bills in advance in the processing ofmoney depositing and delivery or the like by using plural bill handlingapparatuses similar to the bill handling apparatus 1, and calculatingthe statistically standard conveyance state according to the billconveyance state of each bill handling apparatus 1 at the time.

Error specifying component information is registered in an errorspecifying component information area 119 at the time of shipment. Thiserror specifying component information is information on componentswhich require checkup for any error in each of plural error sections inwhich errors are predictable.

Incidentally, in the standard conveyance information area 218 and errorspecifying component information area 119, it is possible to reregisternew standard conveyance information or error specifying componentinformation, whichever may apply, from the superior apparatus 201 viathe line control unit 203 when a change in component or a change incontrol necessitates a change in standard conveyance information orerror specifying component information after the shipment of the billhandling apparatus 1. Therefore, the line control unit 203, the standardconveyance information area 218 and the error specifying componentinformation area 119 function as means of permitting registration.

Next, processing to determine the status of bill conveyance will bedescribed with respect to money acceptance and money discharging by wayof example.

FIG. 3A is a configurational diagram showing the configuration of thefirst sensor 31 and the conveyance path 10; FIG. 3B is a diagramillustrative of registration in the sensor change time registration area212 wherein the change times of the sensors 31 through 46 on theconveyance path 10 are registered; and FIG. 3C is a flowchart ofprocessing to register the change times of the sensors 31 through 46 onthe conveyance path 10 in the sensor change time registration area 212.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of figuring out the conveyance distance to theconveyance status information area 214 and the bill length variationrate when there is one destination of conveyance.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of figuring out the conveyance distance to theconveyance status information area 214 and the bill length variationrate when the conveyance is divided between plural destinations.

When bills are set by a customer in the deposit/withdrawal unit 9 (seeFIG. 1), the main control unit 202 (see FIG. 2) receives an instructionfrom the superior apparatus 201 via the line control unit 203, andperforms deposited bill counting.

The main control unit 202 informs the conveyance motor control unit 204,the separation motor control unit 207, the stack motor control unit 209,the sensor control unit 211, the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213and the gate control unit 215 of the start of operation. This causes theconveyance motor control unit 204 to instruct a conveyance motor, notshown, to be driven in the forward direction, causes the conveyance path10 to turn in the forward direction, and motor times to be registered inthe motor time area 205 from time to time.

On the other hand, the sensor control unit 211 initializes theprocessing pointer 312 and the storage pointer 311 of each sensor totheir respective leading positions (step S313).

After that, the main control unit 202 instructs the separation motorcontrol unit 207 to drive the separation motor, not shown, of thedeposit/withdrawal unit 9 (see FIG. 1), and causes bills to be fed oneby one from the deposit/withdrawal unit 9 to the conveyance path 10.

The fed bills are handed over to the conveyance path 10, pass thesensors 31 and 32, and conveyed to the discriminating unit 2. Thediscriminating unit 2 discriminates the bills as to their trueness orfalseness, presence or absence of damage, and conveyance status.

The main control unit 202 decides the destinations of the bills, such asthe deposit/withdrawal unit 9 for rejected bills and the temporarystocking box 8 for normal bills. According to the decided destinations,the main control unit 202 issues an on/off instruction for the gate 21to the gate control unit 215 according to the sequence of billconveyance.

If it is a normal bill, this normal bill is caused to pass the sensors33 and 34, and temporarily stocked in the temporary stocking box 8.

If it is a rejected bill, this rejected bill is caused to pass thesensors 33 and 35, and sequentially stacked behind the partition plateof the deposit/withdrawal unit 9. In this process, the sensor controlunit 211 watches the light-to-dark and dark-to-light changes of thesensors, and at the same time registers the time of each variation inthe sensor change time registration area 212 on the basis of informationfrom the motor time area 205.

For instance, if a light-to-dark change is detected by the sensor 31(step S314), the reading of the motor time area 205 at the time of thelight-to-dark change is registered (step S315) in the leading positionarea in the area pointed by the processing pointer 312 (FIG. 3B), andthe processing pointer 312 is updated by +1 (step S316).

Next, if a dark-to-light change is detected by the sensor 31 (stepS317), the reading of the motor time area 205 at the time of thedark-to-light change is registered (step S318) in the trailing positionarea of the area pointed by the storage pointer 311 (FIG. 3B), and thestorage pointer 311 is updated by +1 (step S319).

The processing at these steps S314 through S319 is carried on inresponse to the passage of each bill until the conveyance of all thebills is completed (step S320).

The controls at these steps S314 through S320 are similarly performed onthe sensors 32 through 46 on the conveyance path 10 at the times ofdeposited money acceptance and of delivering money. Thus, the changetime of each of the sensors 32 through 46 is registered in the sensorchange time registration area 212 of each on the basis of information inthe motor time area 205.

After all the bills are conveyed to the temporary stocking box 8 and thedeposit/withdrawal unit 9, the main control unit 202 instructs theconveyance motor control unit 204 to stop the conveyance motor, and atthe same time instructs the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 tocreate conveyance status information. The conveyance monitoring/controlunit 213, instructed to create conveyance status information, createsconveyance status information from the sensor change time registrationarea 212 and registers it in the conveyance status information area 214.

Next, the method of creating conveyance status information will bedescribed with reference to the flowcharts of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

First, a case in which bills are not divided by a gate but are conveyedto only one destination as in the sensor section from the sensor 31 tothe sensor 32 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.4. In this case, the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 usesinformation from the leading information of the sensor change timeregistration area 212 of each of the sensor 31 and the sensor 32 to theinformation pointed by the processing pointer 312 and the storagepointer 311, and figures out the conveyance distance and the bill lengthvariation rate as conveyance status information.

First, to make comparison from the first bill onward, N=1 being supposed(step S403), the conveyance distance from the sensor 31 to the sensor 32(the distance of conveying the bill the sensor section from the sensor31 to the sensor 32) is figured out (step S404) from the sensor 31'sfront end time of the N-th bill (the time at which the leading edge ofthe N-th bill passed the sensor 31) and the sensor 32's front end timeof the N-th bill.

The conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 determines whether or not thefigured-out conveyance distance is greater than the maximum conveyancedistance from the sensor 31 to the sensor 32 already registered in theconveyance status information area 214 (step S405) and, if it isgreater, sets the conveyance distance of the N-th bill in the maximumconveyance distance area (step S406).

Also, the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 adds the figured-outconveyance distance of the N-th bill to the total conveyance distancearea for the sensor 31 to the sensor 32 at the time of this conveyance(step S407).

Next, the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 figures out the billlength at the sensor 31 from the sensor 31's front end time of the N-thbill and the sensor 31's rear end time of the N-th bill (the time atwhich the trailing edge of the N-th bill passed the sensor 31) (stepS408). Similarly, it also figures out the bill length at the sensor 32(step S409).

The conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 figures out the bill lengthvariation rate, which is the rate of variation of the bill length in thesensor section from the sensor 31 to the sensor 32, from the figured-outbill lengths at the sensor 31 and the sensor 32 (step S410). This billlength variation rate is calculated by dividing the bill length at thesensor 32, which is the later step, by the bill length at the sensor 31,which is the earlier step.

And the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 determines whether or notthe figured-out bill length variation rate is greater than the maximumbill length variation rate from the sensor 31 to the sensor 32 alreadyregistered in the conveyance status information area 214 (step S411)and, if it is greater, sets the bill length variation rate in themaximum bill length variation rate area (step S412).

Also, the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 adds the figured-outbill length variation rate of the N-th bill to the total bill lengthvariation rate area for the sensor 31 and the sensor 32 (step S413).This addition is accomplished by updating by +1 the N-th billinformation from the front end time until the rear end time pointed bythe respective processing pointer 312 and storage pointer 311 of thesensor 31 and the sensor 32 (step S414).

When the processing has been completed for all the bills conveyed fromthe sensor 31 to the sensor 32 (the processing pointer 312 and thestorage pointer 311 have been reached) (step S415), the value of thetotal conveyance distance area for the current conveyance from thesensor 31 to the sensor 32 is divided by (N−1) to calculate the averageconveyance distance from the sensor 31 to the sensor 32 and, only whenit is greater than the average conveyance distance from the sensor 31 tothe sensor 32 already registered in the conveyance status informationarea 214, it is registered in the average conveyance distance area ofthe conveyance status information area 214(step S416). Similarly, theaverage bill length variation rate for the sensor 31 to the sensor 32 iscalculated and set (step S417).

In the same way, the conveyance distance and the bill length variationrate is also figured out for the sensor 32 to the sensor 33, which isanother conveyance section.

From the sensor 32 to the sensor 33 where bills are not divided by agate, the conveyance distance and the bill length variation rate can befigured out in this way.

Next, a case in which bills are divided by a gate between the sensor 33to the sensor 34 and the sensor 33 to the sensor 35 and conveyed todestinations will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.5. In this case, the conveyance distance and the bill length variationrate are calculated by using the leading information of the sensorchange time registration area 212 of each of the sensor 33, the sensor34 and the sensor 35 to the information pointed by the processingpointer 312 and the storage pointer 311.

First, to compare from the first of each, the conveyancemonitoring/control unit 213 supposes N=1, M=1 and L=1 (step S501), anddetermines whether or not the destination of the N-th bill is thetemporary stocking box 8 (step S502).

Incidentally, N represents the total number of bills to be conveyed, andM and L represent the numbers of bills passing the respectivelycorresponding sensors. In this embodiment, M represents the number ofbills passing the sensor 34 and L represents that of bills passing thesensor 35.

If the destination is the temporary stocking box 8, the conveyancedistance from the sensor 33 to the sensor 34 is calculated from thefront end time of the N-th bill at the sensor 33 and the front end timeof the M-th bill at the sensor 34 (step S503).

The conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 determines whether or not thefigured-out conveyance distance of the M-th bill is greater than themaximum conveyance distance from the sensor 33 to the sensor 34 alreadyregistered in the maximum conveyance distance area 214 (step S504) and,if it is greater, sets the conveyance distance of the M-th bill in themaximum conveyance distance area (step S505).

Also, the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 adds the figured-outconveyance distance of the M-th bill to the total conveyance distancearea for the sensor 33 to the sensor 34 at the time of this conveyance(step S506).

Next, the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 figures out the billlength at the sensor 33 from the sensor 33's front end time of the N-thbill and the sensor 33's rear end time of the N-th bill (step S507).Similarly, it also figures out the M-th bill length at the sensor 34(step S508).

The conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 figures out the M-th billlength variation rate from the figured-out bill lengths of the N-th billat the sensor 33 and of the M-th bill at the sensor 34 (step S509);determines whether or not it is greater than the maximum bill lengthvariation rate from the sensor 33 to the sensor 34 already registered inthe conveyance status information area 214 (step S510) and, if it isgreater, sets the M-th bill length variation rate in the maximum billlength variation rate area (step S511).

Also, the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 adds the figured-outbill length variation rate of the M-th bill to the total bill lengthvariation rate area for the sensor 33 and the sensor 34 (step S512).This addition is accomplished, where the destination is the temporarystocking box 8, by updating by +1 the M-th bill information (step S513)from the front end time until the rear end time pointed by theprocessing pointer 312 and the storage pointer 311 of the sensor 34 andupdating by +1 the N-th bill information (step S524).

If at step S502 above the destination is not the temporary stocking box8 side but the deposit/withdrawal unit 9 side, the conveyancemonitoring/control unit 213 figures out the conveyance distance from thesensor 33 to the sensor 35 from the front end time of the N-th bill atthe sensor 33 and the front end time of the L-th bill at the sensor 35(step S514).

The conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 determines whether or not thefigured-out conveyance distance of the L-th bill is greater than themaximum conveyance distance from the sensor 33 to the sensor 35 alreadyregistered in the conveyance status information area 214 (step S515)and, if it is greater, sets the conveyance distance of the L-th bill inthe maximum conveyance distance area (step S516). Also, the conveyancemonitoring/control unit 213 adds the figured-out conveyance distance ofthe L-th bill to the total conveyance distance area for the sensor 33 tothe sensor 35 at the time of this conveyance (step S517).

Next, the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 figures out the billlength at the sensor 33 from the sensor 33's front end time of the N-thbill and the sensor 33's rear end time of the N-th bill (step S518).Similarly, it also figures out the L-th bill length at the sensor 35(step S519).

The conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 figures out the L-th billlength variation rate from the figured-out bill lengths of the N-th billat the sensor 33 and of the L-th bill at the sensor 35 (step S520);determines whether or not it is greater than the maximum bill lengthvariation rate from the sensor 33 to the sensor 35 already registered inthe conveyance status information area 214 (step S521) and, if it isgreater, sets the L-th bill length variation rate in the maximum billlength variation rate area (step S522).

Also, the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 adds the figured-outbill length variation rate of the L-th bill to the total bill lengthvariation rate area for the sensor 33 through the sensor 35 (step S522).This addition is accomplished, where the destination is thedeposit/withdrawal unit 9 side, by updating by +1 the L-th billinformation (step S523) from the front end time until the rear end timepointed by the processing pointer 312 and the storage pointer 311 of thesensor 35 and updating by +1 the N-th bill information (step S524).

When the processing has been completed for all the bills conveyed to thesensor 33 to the sensor 34 and the sensor 33 to the sensor 35 (theprocessing pointer 312 and the storage pointer 311 have been reached)(step S526), the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 divides by (N−1)the value of the total conveyance distance area for the currentconveyance from the sensor 31 to the sensor 32 to calculate the averagedistance of conveyance from the sensor 33 to the sensor 34 and thesensor 33 to the sensor 35 this time; compares it with the averagedistance of conveyance from the sensor 33 to the sensor 34 and thesensor 33 to the sensor 35 already registered in the conveyance statusinformation area 214; and, only when it is greater, registers it in theaverage conveyance distance area of the conveyance status informationarea 214 (step S527). Similarly, the average bill length variation ratefor the sensor 33 to the sensor 34 and the sensor 33 to the sensor 35 iscalculated and set (step S527).

After the creation of conveyance status information is completed, themain control unit 202 informs the superior apparatus 201 via the linecontrol unit 203 of the completion of deposited money counting.

After that, when instructed by the superior apparatus 201 via the linecontrol unit 203 to accept the deposited money, the main control unit202 instructs the conveyance motor control unit 204 to drive theconveyance motor, not shown, in the reverse direction to feed out one byone the bills temporarily stocked in the temporary stocking box 8, andto stack them in the bill boxes 3, 4, 5 or 6 and the rejected bill box 7in accordance with result given by the discriminating unit 2.

In this process, for the sensor sections of the sensor 34 to the sensor33, the sensor 33 to the sensor 32, the sensor 32 to the sensor 31, thesensor 31 to the sensor 36, the sensor 36 to the sensor 37 and thesensor 41 to the sensor 42, the conveyance distance and the bill lengthvariation rate are calculated on the basis of the change time of eachsensor as in the sensor section of the sensor 31 to the sensor 32 shownin FIG. 4.

Also, for the sensor sections of the sensor 37 to the sensor 38, thesensor 37 to the sensor 46, the sensor 38 to the sensor 39, the sensor38 to the sensor 45, the sensor 39 to the sensor 40, the sensor 39 tothe sensor 44, the sensor 40 to the sensor 41 and the sensor 40 to thesensor 43, the conveyance distance and the bill length variation rateare calculated on the basis of the change time of each sensor as for thesensor sections of the sensor 33 to the sensor 34 and the sensor 33 tothe sensor 35 shown in FIG. 5.

After completing the creation of conveyance status information in thisway, the main control unit 202 informs the superior apparatus 201 viathe line control unit 203 of the completion of deposited moneyacceptance.

Money delivering operation is performed by the main control unit 202having received a money delivery instruction from the superior apparatus201 via the line control unit 203. Instructed to deliver money, the maincontrol unit 202 informs the conveyance motor control unit 204, theseparation motor control unit 207, the stack motor control unit 209, thesensor control unit 211, the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 andthe gate control unit 215 of the start of operation.

This causes the conveyance motor control unit 204 to drive theconveyance motor, not shown, in the forward direction, the conveyancepath 10 to turn in the forward direction and the motor time to beregistered in the motor time area 205 from time to time. Also, thesensor control unit 211 initializes the processing pointer 312 and thestorage pointer 311 of each sensor to their respective leadingpositions.

After that, the main control unit 202 instructs the separation motorcontrol unit 207 to drive the separation motor, not shown, of the billbox 3, 4, 5 or 6 in which the pertinent denomination of money stored,and to feed out bills one by one out of the bill box in which thedenomination of money is stored. The description here refers to feedingout of the bill box 3 by way of example.

The fed-out bills are handed over to the conveyance path 10 and, pastthe sensors 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 31 and 32, are conveyed to thediscriminating unit 2. The discriminating unit 2 discriminates the billsas to their trueness or falseness, presence or absence of damage,denomination and conveyance status.

The main control unit 202 decides the destination of bills, such as thetemporary stocking box 8 for rejected bills and the deposit/withdrawalunit 9 for normal bills. According to the decided destinations, the maincontrol unit 202 issues an on/off instruction for the gate 21 to thegate control unit 215 according to the sequence of bill conveyance. Ifit is a normal bill, this normal bill is caused to pass the sensors 33and 35, and sequentially stacked in the deposit/withdrawal unit 9. If itis a rejected bill, this rejected bill is caused to pass the sensorssensor 33 and 34, and temporarily stocked in the temporary stocking box8.

The main control unit 202, after stacking all the bills fed out of thebill box 3 in the deposit/withdrawal unit 9 or the temporary stockingbox 8 according to the discrimination by the discriminating unit 2,causes the conveyance motor control unit 204 to stop driving theconveyance motor.

And on the basis of the change time of each sensor, the conveyancedistance and the bill length variation rate are calculated for thesensor sections of the sensor 41 to the sensor 40, the sensor 40 to thesensor 39, the sensor 39 to the sensor 38, the sensor 38 to the sensor37, the sensor 37 to the sensor 36, the sensor 36 to the sensor 31, thesensor 31 to the sensor 32 and the sensor 32 to the sensor 33 in thesame way as for the sensor section of the sensor 31 to the sensor 32shown in FIG. 4, and the conveyance distance and the bill lengthvariation rate are calculated for the sensor sections of the sensor 33to the sensor 34 and the sensor 33 to the sensor 45 in the same way asfor the deposited money counting in the sensor sections of the sensor 33to the sensor 34 and the sensor 33 to the sensor 35 shown in FIG. 5.

After completing the creation of conveyance status information in thisway, the main control unit 202 carries out storing of rejected bills fordelivery temporarily stocked in the temporary stocking box to store theminto the rejected bill box 7. In this storing rejected bills fordelivery, the main control unit 202 informs the conveyance motor controlunit 204, the separation motor control unit 207, the stack motor controlunit 209, the sensor control unit 211, the conveyance monitoring/controlunit 213 and the gate control unit 215 of the start of operation.

This causes the conveyance motor control unit 204 to instruct driving ofthe conveyance motor, not shown, in the reverse direction, turning ofthe conveyance path 10 in the reverse direction and registration ofmotor times in the motor time area 205 from time to time. Also, thesensor control unit 211 initializes the processing pointer 312 and thestorage pointer 311 of each sensor to their respective leadingpositions.

Further, the conveyance motor control unit 204, after driving theconveyance motor, not shown, in the reverse direction, feeds out one byone the bills temporarily stocked in the temporary stocking box 8, andconveys them in the sequence of the sensors 34, 33, 32, 31, 36, 37 and46 to store them into the rejected bill box 7.

After storing all the bills in the temporary stocking box 8 into therejected bill box 7, the conveyance motor control unit 204 stops drivingthe conveyance motor. On the basis of the change time of each sensor,the conveyance monitoring/control unit 213 calculates the conveyancedistance and the bill length variation rate for the sensor sections ofthe sensor 34 to the sensor 33, the sensor 33 to the sensor 32, thesensor 32 to the sensor 31, the sensor 31 to the sensor 36, the sensor36 to the sensor 37 and the sensor 37 to the sensor 46 in the same wayas for the sensor section of the sensor 31 to the sensor 32 shown inFIG. 4.

In this way, both in receiving and delivering money, the maximum andaverage conveyance distances and bill length variation rates can befigured out. It is also possible to secure total information since theshipment and the information and information area for the last threemonths (this month, the month before and the month still before),calculate and register the conveyance distances and bill lengthvariation rates on that basis, and keep track of changes in the statusof the apparatus according to such information.

At the time of shipment, it is possible to receive and deliver moneywith plural similar bill handling apparatuses 1, calculate for eachsensor section the maximum conveyance distance, the maximum bill lengthvariation rate, the average conveyance distance and the average billlength variation rate, decide the permissible limits of each, andregister them from the superior apparatus 201 into the standardconveyance information area 218 via the line control unit 203.

Similarly, it is possible to decide information on predictable troubleand remedies for each sensor section of predicted error occurrence, andregister them from the superior apparatus 201 into the error specifyingcomponent information area 219 via the line control unit 203.

Incidentally, it is preferable to calculate the maximum, minimum andaverage Mahalanobis distances and the standard deviation on the basis ofinformation on the shift or skew of bills, bill spacing, conveyancedistance or length variation rate, figure out unit spaces by the MTmethod on the basis of the calculated Mahalanobis distances, andregister these unit spaces in the standard conveyance information area218.

Next will be described the standard conveyance information used forpredicting error occurrence and the error specifying componentinformation which is component information regarding components whoseerrors are predictable.

FIG. 6, FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 show examples of the standardconveyance information area 218 registered in advance at the time ofshipment.

For counting deposited bills, as shown in FIG. 6, the permissiblemaximum and the permissible average of the conveyance distance and thepermissible maximum and the permissible average of the bill lengthvariation rate are stored in the standard conveyance information area218 for each pertinent sensor section.

For accepting deposited bills, as shown in FIG. 7, the permissiblemaximum and the permissible average of the conveyance distance and thepermissible maximum and the permissible average of the bill lengthvariation rate are stored in the standard conveyance information area218 for each pertinent sensor section.

For delivering bills, as shown in FIG. 8, the permissible maximum andthe permissible average of the conveyance distance and the permissiblemaximum and the permissible average of the bill length variation rateare stored in the standard conveyance information area 218 for eachpertinent sensor section.

For storing rejected bills for delivery, as shown in FIG. 9, thepermissible maximum and the permissible average of the conveyancedistance and the permissible maximum and the permissible average of thebill length variation rate are stored in the standard conveyanceinformation area 218 for each pertinent sensor section.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrative of the error specifying componentinformation 219 registered in advance at the time of shipment.

In the error specifying component information 219, there are storedinformation on predictable trouble and remedies. For each sensor sectionof predicted error occurrence, plural items of component information arestored, and a remedy is stored for each individual one of these items ofcomponent information.

Next, the operation to output trouble prediction will be described.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation to output troubleprediction.

FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are prior error predictive screens, each being onemaintenance screen displayed on a display unit by the manipulation ofpersonnel in charge.

At the time of regular inspection by personnel in charge or on a similaroccasion, when an input device such as a key switch is manipulated forinputting and the bill handling apparatus 1 is switched over to theinspection mode (step S601), the main control unit 202 as the controldevice compares the standard conveyance information area 218 and theconveyance status information area 214 to perform trouble prediction(step S602). In this trouble prediction, if any value in the conveyancestatus information area 214 is found variant to a certain extent or morefrom the corresponding value in the standard conveyance information area218, the main control unit 202 determines that conveyance section (thesensor section) as a conveyance section in which trouble is predictable.

Incidentally, it is preferable to determine the presence or absence ofany variance to a certain extent or more by calculating Mahalanobisdistances regarding the conveyance distance and the bill lengthvariation rate and seeing whether or not these Mahalanobis distances arewithin the aforementioned unit space.

In trouble prediction, if any value in the conveyance status informationarea 214 is found variant to a certain extent or more from thecorresponding value in the standard conveyance information area 218(step S603), the main control unit 202 displays on a display device asan output device, not shown, a maintenance screen 701 containinginformation on the predicted error occurrence section as predictabletrouble information as shown in FIG. 12 (step S604). In this maintenancescreen 701, there are provided an action display section 702, a “Nextpredicted error occurrence section displayed” button 703, a “Detailedinformation on this section displayed” button 704, a “Maintenance screenended” button 705 and a trouble part display diagram 706.

The action display section 702 lights and displays the component whosetrouble is predictable (such as a specific component of the conveyancepath 10, the discriminating unit 2 or a specific one among the sensors31 through 46) in a different color from other components (a conspicuouscolor, such as red for instance). In this way, personnel in charge aremade aware of any component in which the occurrence of an abnormalitywhich may invite trouble, such as the wear of a roller, invasion of aforeign matter or a hitch on the belt, is more likely, in other wordsany component whose trouble is predictable.

When a person in charge presses the “Detailed information on thissection displayed” button 704 of the predicted error occurrence sectiondisplay screen (step S605), the main control unit 202 causes the displaydevice to display a detailed information display screen as shown in FIG.13, and causes the maximum and the average in that predicted erroroccurrence section to be displayed (step S606). This can urge the personin charge to check the conveyance status in the predicted erroroccurrence section.

The information on the predicted error occurrence section and detailedinformation on the predicted error occurrence section are made printableby a printing device. It is also made possible to review the standardconveyance information area 218 by collecting information on eachapparatus and statistically surveying the conveyance statuses inpredicted error occurrence sections. If the findings of the surveyreveal the need to review the standard conveyance information area 218,it is made possible to prevent maintenance by personnel in chargeregarding variations within a certain range in any specified conveyancesection until the superior apparatus 201 alters the standard conveyanceinformation area 218 via the line control unit 203 (prevention ofunnecessary maintenance work due to a bill factor or fluctuations in theenvironment or the like).

If variations are found at step S603 described above to be within acertain range in all the conveyance section, “Normal” is displayed onthe screen (step S607) to inform the personnel in charge.

The operations described above make it possible to monitor the status ofconveyance by each sensor and record any variation in the conveyancestatus. While this variation in the conveyance status may be due to oneof various causes such as the wear of a roller or abnormality of a gate,a variation in the conveyance status due to a delay in bill conveyanceor a skew can be identified by measuring the conveyance distance ofbills and comparing it with the conveyance distance on a normaloccasion. From this variation in the conveyance status, any conveyancesection in which trouble is predictable can be identified, and personnelin charge can be warned in advance for regular inspection of thisconveyance section or like actions. The personnel in charge can take anaction, such as replacing an expendable item, on the basis ofinformation on predictable error occurrence displayed at the timeregular inspection, remove the potential trouble in advance of itsactualization and reduce the failure of the apparatus due to troubleoccurrence.

In particular, by figuring out the bill length on the basis of the frontend passage time and the rear end passage time of each bill regardingeach of the sensors 31 through 46, a bill longer than the normal lengthcan be determined to be skewed, for instance, and personnel in chargecan be made aware of the presence of abnormality which might invitetrouble in the future in any of the sensor sections until the pertinentsensor.

Further the conveyance distance of a bill in a sensor section, which isthe interval between adjacent sensors, is figured out according to thepoints of time at which the bill passed the adjacent sensors in sequence(the front end passage times in this embodiment) and it is determinedwhether or not this conveyance distance is appropriate, thereforepersonnel in charge can be made aware of the presence of abnormalitywhich might invite trouble in the future in this sensor section.

Also, to display predictable error occurrence information, personnel incharge can check this predictable error occurrence information andremove the cause for potential trouble before it is actualized.

Where calculation of Mahalanobis distances is done, trouble can bepredicted more accurately.

Further, as each sensor section and components whose trouble ispredictable in that sensor section are matched in their storage in theerror specifying component information 219 and their registration arepermitted to make possible updating, appropriate adaptation to versionupgrading or software replacement in the bill handling apparatus 1 canbe accomplished.

Since predictable error occurrence information is displayed only whenpersonnel in charge performs regular inspection or the like, there is nopossibility for predictable error occurrence information to be displayedwhen a common customer is to use the apparatus, and accordingly anycommon customer can execute his or her transactions with the automatictransaction apparatus 1 with no worry.

Also, by excluding bill information at the time of jamming due to aspecific bill or the like from registration in paper conveyanceinformation, more accurate prediction of abnormality occurrence is madepossible. Further by applying such information to units responsible forthe gate state, separation, stacking state and so forth, the predictionof trouble occurrence can be expanded. Personnel in charge can bethereby urged to perform inspection and preventive maintenance, andreduce the failure of the apparatus due to trouble occurrence.

Not only prediction of trouble but also stopping and error notificationin time of actual trouble occurrence can be accomplished with noproblem. Thus, if monitoring by the sensors 31 through 46 fails todetect any variation for a certain period of time, the main control unit202 will determine that trouble has occurred on account of jamming orsome other cause, delivers an order to stop feeding out to theseparation motor control unit 207, and delivers an order to stopconveyance to the conveyance motor control unit 204. And it transmitserror information to the superior apparatus 201 via the line controlunit 203.

Since the certain period of time allowed for determination of troubleoccurrence is set longer than the period matching the permissiblemaximum of the conveyance distance or the period matching thepermissible maximum of the bill length variation rate, the detection ofpredictable trouble occurrence and the detection of actual troubleoccurrence can take place without disturbing each other.

To add, the present invention is not limited to the configuration of theabove-described embodiment but can be embodied in many other forms.

1. A paper sheet handling apparatus provided with a conveyance path forconveying paper sheets between an inlet/outlet and stocking units,comprising: a plurality of sensors for detecting passage of paper sheetsare arranged; a determining device that determines, on the basis offront end passage time and rear end passage time of the paper sheets ineach sensor, a conveyance status of the paper sheets in a sensor sectionup to that sensor on the conveyance path; and an output device foroutputting a result of determination by the determining device.
 2. Thepaper sheet handling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thedetermining device further determines the conveyance status of the papersheets in a sensor section of mutually adjacent sensors on theconveyance path on the basis of the passage times of papers sequentiallydetected by mutually adjacent sensors, out of the plurality of sensors,on the conveyance path.
 3. The paper sheet handling apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the determining device figures out a distance on thebasis of the front end passage time, the rear end passage time, thepassage time or more than one of these factors, and determines theconveyance status in the pertinent sensor section to be not normal whenthe distance is not within a preset reference range; and the outputdevice outputs, as the result of determination, trouble predictiveinformation predicting occurrence of trouble regarding the sensorsection whose conveyance status has been determined to be not normal. 4.The paper sheet handling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein thedetermining device figures out a distance on the basis of the front endpassage time, the rear end passage time, the passage time or more thanone of these factors, and determines the conveyance status in thepertinent sensor section to be not normal when the distance is notwithin a preset reference range; and the output device outputs, as theresult of determination, trouble predictive information predictingoccurrence of trouble regarding the sensor section whose conveyancestatus has been determined to be not normal.
 5. The paper sheet handlingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determining device figuresout a distance or a distance variation rate on the basis of the frontend passage time, the rear end passage time, the passage time or morethan one of these factors, figures out a Mahalanobis distance on thebasis of the distance or distance variation rate, and determines theconveyance status in the pertinent sensor section to be not normal whenthe Mahalanobis distance is not within a unit space preset by the MTmethod, and the output device outputs as the result of determinationtrouble predictive information predicting occurrence of troubleregarding the sensor section whose conveyance status has been determinedto be not normal.
 6. The paper sheet handling apparatus according toclaim 2, wherein the determining device figures out a distance or adistance variation rate on the basis of the front end passage time, therear end passage time, the passage time or more than one of thesefactors, figures out a Mahalanobis distance on the basis of the distanceor distance variation rate, and determines the conveyance status in thepertinent sensor section to be not normal when the Mahalanobis distanceis not within a unit space preset by the MT method, and the outputdevice outputs as the result of determination trouble predictiveinformation predicting occurrence of trouble regarding the sensorsection whose conveyance status has been determined to be not normal. 7.The paper sheet handling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein theoutput device is so configured as to output, as the result ofdetermination, component information regarding any component which ispredicted to prove detective in the conveyance status of any sensorsection, and a registration permitting device that permits registrationof the component information matched with the sensor section is furtherprovided.
 8. The paper sheet handling apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the output device is so configured as to output, as the resultof determination, component information regarding any component which ispredicted to prove detective in the conveyance status of any sensorsection, and a registration permitting device that permits registrationof the component information matched with the sensor section is furtherprovided.
 9. The paper sheet handling apparatus according to claim 3,wherein the output device is so configured as to output, as the resultof determination, component information regarding any component which ispredicted to prove detective in the conveyance status of any sensorsection, and a registration permitting device that permits registrationof the component information matched with the sensor section is furtherprovided.
 10. The paper sheet handling apparatus according to claim 4,wherein the output device is so configured as to output, as the resultof determination, component information regarding any component which ispredicted to prove detective in the conveyance status of any sensorsection, and a registration permitting device that permits registrationof the component information matched with the sensor section is furtherprovided.
 11. The paper sheet handling apparatus according to claim 5,wherein the output device is so configured as to output, as the resultof determination, component information regarding any component which ispredicted to prove detective in the conveyance status of any sensorsection, and a registration permitting device that permits registrationof the component information matched with the sensor section is furtherprovided.
 12. The paper sheet handling apparatus according to claim 6,wherein the output device is so configured as to output, as the resultof determination, component information regarding any component which ispredicted to prove detective in the conveyance status of any sensorsection, and a registration permitting device that permits registrationof the component information matched with the sensor section is furtherprovided.
 13. The paper sheet handling apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the output device is configured of: a display device thatdisplays images; an input device that permits shifted inputting to amaintenance screen by personnel in charge; and a control device that, atthe time of shift to the maintenance screen, causes the result ofdetermination to be outputted to the display device.
 14. The paper sheethandling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the output device isconfigured of: a display device that displays images; an input devicethat permits shifted inputting to a maintenance screen by personnel incharge; and a control device that, at the time of shift to themaintenance screen, causes the result of determination to be outputtedto the display device.
 15. The paper sheet handling apparatus accordingto claim 3, wherein the output device is configured of: a display devicethat displays images; an input device that permits shifted inputting toa maintenance screen by personnel in charge; and a control device that,at the time of shift to the maintenance screen, causes the result ofdetermination to be outputted to the display device.
 16. The paper sheethandling apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the output device isconfigured of: a display device that displays images; an input devicethat permits shifted inputting to a maintenance screen by personnel incharge; and a control device that, at the time of shift to themaintenance screen, causes the result of determination to be outputtedto the display device.
 17. The paper sheet handling apparatus accordingto claim 5, wherein the output device is configured of: a display devicethat displays images; an input device that permits shifted inputting toa maintenance screen by personnel in charge; and a control device that,at the time of shift to the maintenance screen, causes the result ofdetermination to be outputted to the display device.
 18. The paper sheethandling apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the output device isconfigured of: a display device that displays images; an input devicethat permits shifted inputting to a maintenance screen by personnel incharge; and a control device that, at the time of shift to themaintenance screen, causes the result of determination to be outputtedto the display device.